Well recently I've noticed that all of my maps get bad ratings due to the messiness and the non-playability of some of my maps, so I need some help on that stuff, so does anyone have some tips?(I already know how to Interlock and Geomerge.)
The main thing is patience and the willingness to go the extra step. The main difference in quality between featured maps and most forum submitted maps is time. The time to make your map its utmost quality. Supreme craftsmanship doesn't necesarily earn a ticket to the front-page though. That only comes through superior design, great craftsmanship, and awesome gameplay. You may know how to utilize the tools of forge, but in order to master them it takes practice. Practice dong it correctly enough times and everything becomes like clockwork.
I definitely agree with rusty. Most maps posted you see something like "Spent 10-15 hours working on this!" and it really shows that they didn't spend the proper time to make it work. On my map I probably spent like 40-60 hours just building it, not even including playtesting and getting my post ready. The end result being a map that a lot of people genuinly enjoy playing on. Sure I could have rushed it and not taken my time, but then it would have come very rough and difficult to play on. This was also the first map that I was forging seriously on, so it's really not much of an importance on experience as it is patience and perseverance. Some tips: Use lots of bracers to ensure your interlocks are consistent. Respawn areas create perfect squares if you want to ensure you're building straight (wish I had known this 3 weeks ago) Respawn points are very good for interlocking guides, just barely overlap the respawn for good interlock positions Other than that just be patient, there's no rush to finish, but if you finish rushed it will show.